The radiative transfer equation in a planar-stratified atmosphere with multiple scattering is solved by numerically integrating an ensemble of trial functions which are constructed so as to satisfy the boundary conditions (downward-propagating radiances) at the top of the atmosphere. The boundary conditions at the surface (reflection or scattering) are imposed after integration through the atmo...

A scheme of combined reflection and transmission ellipsometry on light-transmitting ambient-film-substrate systems is proposed and the required sample design and instrument operation are investigated. A comparative study of the sensitivity of external and internal reflection and transmission ellipsometry is carried out based on unified linear approximations of the exact equations. These approxi...

This essay, which is the fourth in the series "Recollections, Reflections, and Revelations: Ethnobiologists and Their First Time in the Field", is a personal reflection by the researcher on his first field experience with ethnobiology of so called Afro-Brazilian cults. The author recounts his feelings and concerns associated with initial fieldwork.

Previous research has demonstrated abstract concepts associated with spatial location (e.g., God in the Heavens) could direct visual attention upward or downward, because thinking about the abstract concepts activates the corresponding vertical perceptual symbols. For self-concept, there are similar metaphors (e.g., "I am above others"). However, whether thinking about the self can induce visua...

Various alternatives have been developed to improve the winner-takes-all (WTA) mechanism in vector quantization, including the neural gas (NG). However, the behavior of these algorithms including their learning dynamics, robustness with respect to initialization, asymptotic results, etc. has only partially been studied in a rigorous mathematical analysis. The theory of on-line learning allows f...

We construct exact solutions to the Bianchi equations on a flat spacetime background. When the constraints are satisfied, these solutions represent inand outgoing linearized gravitational radiation. We then consider the Bianchi equations on a subset of flat spacetime of the form [0, T ] × BR , where BR is a ball of radius R, and analyse different kinds of boundary conditions on ∂BR . Our main r...

Abstract: Certain explicit solutions to the Korteweg-de Vries equation in the first quadrant of the xt-plane are presented. Such solutions involve algebraic combinations of truly elementary functions, and their initial values correspond to rational reflection coefficients in the associated Schrödinger equation. In the reflectionless case such solutions reduce to pure N -soliton solutions. An il...

This paper describes an automated algorithm for generating a group code using any unitary group, initial vector, and generating set that satisfy a necessary condition. Examples with exceptional complex reflection groups, as well as an analysis of the decoding complexity, are also included.

We present a new technique for extracting disk tissue from sagittal MR spine images. This technique uses linear Kalman filters to estimate initial conditions for a two-dimensional active contour model. We extend the contour model by computing an energy penalty proportional to the mismatch between a generic model and the patient specific model (using a chi-squared error measure). We compared the...

With appropriate modiications, the Hooman{Ribak algorithm that constructs constrained realizations of Gaussian random elds having the correct ensemble properties can also be used to construct constrained realizations of those non-Gaussian random elds that are obtained by transformations of an underlying Gaussian eld. For example, constrained realizations of lognormal, generalized Rayleigh, and ...